


An Outside Observer

by LizRambler



Series: Sleepovers [5]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 08:43:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21473230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizRambler/pseuds/LizRambler
Summary: Sarah Jane gets an unexpected visitor.(For Sarah Jane this happens in Season 1 after the Warriors of Kulak Pt 2 in the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures. For Rose Tyler, this happens after The Idiot’s Lantern)
Relationships: Sarah Jane Smith & Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor & Sarah Jane Smith, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Sleepovers [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1531835
Comments: 11
Kudos: 95





	An Outside Observer

“Luke, get the door!” Sarah Jane Smith was coming down the stairs with her laptop bag. She had just finished an investigation into a local laundromat that was laundering money. Boring, predictable piece but she had to pay the bills somehow. It had been a week since any alien activity within twenty miles of Bannerman Road. Her spidey senses were tingling. The doorbell rang for a second time. “Luke!” she called. “Where is that boy?”

She made it to the ground floor as Luke was opening the door. He paused. Not Clyde then, or Maria. A familiar voice said, “Sorry, this is Bannerman Road?”

“Yes, it is,” Luke answered.

“I was looking for Sarah Jane Smith. I’m sure this is the right house. Stayed here once not too long ago…” 

“Sarah Jane’s my mum,” Luke said with a happy little lilt and Sarah Jane felt her heart swell. He had only just started calling her mum and it was enough to make her melt into a puddle. Speaking of being a happy puddle, she raced into the room to see a very puzzled young blonde.

“Your mum? Sarah Jane’s your mum?” she asked.

“Rose Tyler,” Sarah Jane exclaimed infusing it with all the warmth she could manage. She didn’t look too different from the last time Sarah had seen her. Her hair was hanging in soft ringlets around her pretty face. Sarah Jane grinned. So she had survived the Battle of Canary Wharf! Her name and her mother’s had been on the list of the dead. Sarah had been beside herself. And yet, here she was, Rose Marion Tyler, looking hale and healthy. She must have gotten away with the Doctor! Relief made her a bit giddy.

“Sarah Jane Smith!” Rose said with just as much warmth and Sarah Jane was pulling the younger woman into a hug. Luke stepped back in obvious confusion as the two women laughed and hugged and laughed, thumping each other a bit and laughed some more. “I guess I can come in then?”

“Oh, you better just,” Sarah Jane enthused, pulling her into her living room. 

“Mum?” Luke asked with an adorably puzzled smile. “You two know each other? I’ve never met any of Sarah Jane’s friends before.”

Rose dropped a large rucksack inside the door and raised her eyebrows. Sarah Jane shrugged and gave the rucksack a curious once over. Rose was too carefree to not still be traveling with the Doctor but that was obviously a bag of her belongings. “Jackie not around?” 

Rose rolled her eyes. “You are the best investigator ever! She’s away for the weekend with a friend,” Rose put emphasis on the word friend, giving no doubt to what sort of weekend Jackie Tyler was enjoying. “S’laundry.”

“Where’s himself then?” Sarah Jane asked.

“Rose, the Tardis needs a transductive sandwich maker with a rainbow flag and a pickle. Only the one I need is on a planet that thinks blondes are evil witches who steal children’s souls. Fancy dying your hair blue?” Rose’s impression of the Doctor was spot on. “No ta, Doctor, just drop me off and I’ll spend the day with my mum.” She made a face.

“Well, no problem! You can stay with us,” Sarah Jane insisted and tossed an arm around Luke. “Luke Smith, this is Rose Tyler. She’s the Doctor’s girlfriend. Rose Tyler, this is my son Luke Smith.”

“Girlfriend?” Luke and Rose said together.

“Yes, I’d say so. Luke was genetically created in a lab as a plot to overthrow the earth.” Sarah Jane explained, as she closed the door and ushered Rose into a chair. Rose’s eyebrows rose again in surprise. It was a good look on her.

“Mum…” Luke warned.

“Oh, it’s alright! I’ve told you all about my friend the Doctor. His friends would never judge you for your origins. No one can help how we’re born. We can only help who we become. Isn’t that right?”

Rose beamed. “Yeah, I reckon if Sarah Jane likes you enough to keep you, we can be friends too. She’s a brilliant judge of character. She likes me.” Rose bit her lip, noticing the laptop. “I’m not interrupting am I?”

“No, of course not. I’m just avoiding typing up my latest investigation. It was mind-numbingly normal. Not an alien in sight.” Sarah Jane pouted. “Oh, but I’ve got nothing in. Luke can get us pizza. How about it?”

“Yes, I like pizza,” Luke agreed readily. “Do you really travel in space?”

Rose beamed. “Yeah. And time. That’s what clinched it for me.”

“Do you think the Doctor would take me to the future?” Luke enthused.

“Oh no, not until you’re out of college,” Sarah Jane growled playfully. Luke moaned and rolled his eyes. “I’m sure we’ll eventually accidentally travel back to at least the seventies Luke.”

“What?” Rose asked, laughing. 

“Mum says we’re a jeopardy friendly family. And Maria too and Clyde…” Luke glanced at Sarah Jane. “We’ve stopped loads of invasions. Sarah Jane is brilliant.”

“I’ll bet she is,” Rose agreed easily.

“Off with you now. No stopping invasions on the way to the shops.” Sarah Jane handed him some money. Luke took the money and muttered to himself on the way out the door. 

Rose Tyler beamed. “You have a son! How long has it been since I’ve seen you?”

“Not long, only about a year,” Sarah Jane said.

“A year! Sorry, I thought the Doctor dropped me off in my own time. I’m in what then, 2007? Blimey, then I was talking to my mum from last year… I wonder why she wasn’t home then?” Rose made a face and shrugged it off. “Time travel, eh? He’s the worst pilot.” Rose said the last part with an exasperated fondness that Sarah Jane remembered feeling toward her own version of the Doctor.

A cold knot of dread sunk into her stomach. Rose was from the past. She could have died in the battle. Her mother too… 

“Everything all right? You’re a bit pale,” Rose said concern on her beautiful face. 

Sarah Jane nodded. There was nothing she could do for future Rose and she had no real way of knowing what happened to her. Best to carry on and not risk a paradox. She’d just have to keep her away from the telly or the internet. Resolved, she nodded again, smiling and focusing on now. “I forgot to eat this afternoon. I’ll just put the kettle on. Make yourself at home. Washing machines are through there.” She pointed. Rose watched her warily for a second before grabbing her rucksack. 

“Where’s Mickey then?” Sarah Jane asked.

“Uh, he stayed in a parallel world,” Rose’s voice drifted out of the laundry room. 

Sarah Jane blinked. “Wow.”

Rose reappeared in time to take a mug of tea out of Sarah Jane’s hands. “His gran was alive there and he wanted to stay with her.”

“That must have been hard,” she said sympathetically.

Rose nodded. “Let’s not talk about that. Tell me all about your son!”

“Oh, well, it all started with a drink called Bubbleshock…” Sarah Jane said and launched into her favorite story. Rose was rapt, only interrupting to ask salient questions and Sarah Jane thought she would have made an excellent stringer in another life. She actually clapped by the end and Sarah Jane laughed. “And I’m a mother now. With my own team…”

“You’re basically him, ain’t ya? You’re the Doctor of Bannerman Road!” she squealed. “You even have a sonic lipstick. Where’d you get that?”

“Oh, trade secret. Tell me all about your travels,” she insisted and Rose beamed. 

The pizza arrived in the middle of Sarah Jane telling her all about the mask in Italy. Both broke off to eat until Luke started asking question after question about the Tardis. Rose described the new version of the Tardis prompting Sarah Jane to tell her about the wood and brass version and the white one. All in all, it was lovely. Sarah Jane rarely got to talk about the Doctor, or Harry or the Brigadier.

“What did he look like then?” Rose asked suddenly after Luke was sent off protesting to bed. The pizza was cold and the tea had been replaced with a bottle of red. “I’ve had two. The pinstriped one and there was another one in a leather jacket…” Rose pulled out her phone and showed Sarah Jane an image of a handsome older man with bright blue eyes.

“Oh, I’ve the two as well,” Sarah Jane said and grinned. “I’ve got a box around here somewhere.” Sarah Jane walked over to the closet. She had a shoebox of old snaps. Grabbing it, she dropped it on the coffee table between them. Inside the square photos were cracking around the edges. She pulled loose one of Harry. “Harry Sullivan. The Doctor teased him terribly. And he in turn teased me. Used to call me ‘Old Girl.’ He was frightfully old fashioned.”

“Handsome,” Rose commented. “Love a man in uniform.”

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes. “No, you like chaotic men like this one.” She held up a picture of her Doctor, complete with a ridiculous hat and long scarf. Here he is.”

Rose crowed. “Oooh! He did where that scarf! I thought it was a dream! Look at him!”

“What do you mean, a dream?”

Rose frowned. “I was injured on Scarris. The Doctor said my body was in a ‘pain feedback loop.’ So, he sort of took my mind and stored it… in his mind while my body healed. Very weird. Anyhow, I think, no I know I met this one. I called him Sarah Jane’s Doctor and he was more than a little enthusiastic about it.”

Sarah Jane’s heart felt a bit thick and full in her chest. “The silly old fool,” she murmured as she gazed at the picture. “But wait, the Doctor let you into his mind? He doesn’t do that for anyone.”

“Yeah, that’s what the one in the patchwork coat said.” she shrugged, “I think? It’s sort of muzzy. Sometimes I think I imagined it. Other parts were crystal clear,” she muttered cheeks pink.

Sarah Jane’s spidey sense kicked in again. There was a story here. She could smell it. “Did he have any messages for me, my Doctor?”

“No, he told me a few stories and was enthusiastic about it, annoying the patchwork one and the slim cricket one… Oh, the cricket one had a message. What was it?” Rose’s face scrunched up as she willed her memory to clear. “Oh, I told him I wanted the memories to stick. Think... Oh, yeah. The one who wore a cricket outfit told me that you had been to Gallifrey? And that you didn’t remember it. And that’s… that’s why he never wanted you to go there. Does that make sense?” Rose asked.

Sarah Jane shivered. “Feels as if someone’s just walked across my grave. My Doctor wouldn’t take me there. He said humans weren’t allowed.”

“It’s his home planet, isn’t it? Only he never mentions it.” Rose frowned. “You know it.”

“Only because they called him home and he left me here. Possibly to protect my memories? Thank you for that, even if it was a hazy dream. Do you know that after I hadn’t seen the Doctor in years, K-9 turned up on my doorstep? He’s sent me a present. I’d thought he was dead or forgotten me. Looks like I was wrong on both counts.” With a wonderfully warm feeling, she decided to attack the story and let the message from yet another incarnation of her friend marinate. “And what part of the story are you leaving out? The crystal clear bit?”

Rose turned a delightful shade of pink. “There may have been a pretty intense kiss in there.”

“In his mind?” Sarah asked with some surprise.

“Don’t say it like that,” Rose said slapping at her playfully. “I was in pain and I…”

Sarah Jane couldn’t help it, she started giggling. Rose rolled her eyes and looked away. “Shut up. S’just a hug and kiss, not…”

“Mmm-hmm, oh yes, I believe you,” Sarah said and burst into more giggles.  
Rose leaned back, melting into the sofa. “It wasn’t real. It was imaginary, right? It was in his head, not outside… No actual… Shut up!”

Sarah snorted into her wine glass. “And outside of his head, have you ever?”

“Kissed? No, well, once… He kissed me in Rome.” 

Sarah Jane bit her lip, not wanting to say what was on her mind and tease the girl further. She and the Doctor were a bit stupid about their relationship. And Sarah Jane was under no illusions on whose fault that was. “Did he give you the speech about how he walks in eternity?” she intoned dramatically.

Rose giggled and rolled her eyes. “Sarah Jane, he’s going to outlive us all.”

“Mmm-hmm, I know better than anyone else. But you were supposed to listen to me, not him.” Sarah Jane gave her a pointed stare. “And since you didn’t listen the first time, allow me to elaborate. The way he looks at you is more than friends.”

Rose groaned. “Yeah, sometimes I get that feeling. He’s so hot and cold about it. He was lying in my bed the one time talking about kissing and…”

“Rose Tyler, the Doctor was in your bed.”

Rose waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah, that’s nothing new. He’s always in my bed… to sleep. Sarah Jane, you stop looking at me like that. He doesn’t actually have a bedroom on the Tardis.”

“That explains so much,” Sarah Jane murmured her mind flashing on all the times she came upon the Doctor sleeping on low walls, big chairs and once a tank. “You co-sleep.”

“I shouldn’t have mentioned it. Pretend I never said that. He’s going to kill me. It’s not all the time! Just every once in a while when one of us is upset or injured or once the Doctor had a drink with ginger in it.”

“You saw him drunk!” Sarah Jane crowed. “Tell me everything.”

“No, he was sweet and silly and said a few things that were not in English.” Rose closed her mouth with an audible click. Sarah Jane blinked at her. Rose gulped her wine and stirred the conversation to safer topics.

Sarah Jane listened to Rose while processing all her surprisingly juicy new information. The night wore on and the wine did its job. Rose told the entire story of the kiss in Rome before slipping bonelessly into sleep. Her poor sweet friend was definitely dating a certain Timelord. Sarah Jane tossed a comforter over the girl and opened her laptop.  
An hour later she heard a familiar whirring sound followed by a gentle knocking. Sarah Jane grinned and stood up to let a frazzled looking Doctor into her living room. “I brought Rose to the wrong time!”

“Sh, sh, I know. We worked that out ages ago. No telly. No internet. Everything is fine. She’s sleeping, so keep it down. We have cold pizza if you’re hungry. How about some ginger beer?”

“Oh haha, no ta, Sarah,” his whispered before approaching the box of pizza. He opened it, took a slice, sonicked it and took a bite. “Where is she, oh,” he spun and saw Rose. A warm soft look replaced his frazzled state. Sarah saw his mask slip and spotted the purple smudges under his eyes. 

“How long have you been gone?” Sarah Jane asked, resuming her seat. 

The Doctor chewed as he surveyed the other seat in the room before lifting Rose’s legs up and sliding under and dropping her feet into his lap. “Four days,” he confessed. “There was an issue with the locals. Apparently, it’s not blond soul-stealers’ anymore but brown-haired fellows. Took me a bit longer than I liked to extricate myself and get the… nevermind.”

“She’s only been her for about five hours,” Sarah Jane supplied at his worried glance down at Rose. “We’ve been having a lovely time. Talking.” She emphasized talking and he grimaced.

“Oh,” the Doctor’s voice pitched upward like he did when he was uncomfortable. Good. She had him where she wanted him. He finished his slice of pizza, licking the fingers clean and grabbing for Rose’s nearly empty glass. Sarah topped it off for him. He took a swig. “Anything um, come up?”

Sarah Jane thought about the battle yet to come for her friends and decided to do Rose a favor. “Yes, a few things. You can’t sleep without her, can you?”

“I can,” he answered, tone still odd and high. “I can, yeah, if I have to I can. I can do that yes, I can sleep alone.”

“Nope, you Doctor are using Rose Tyler as a teddy bear.”

“The Tardis gave her the best bed… and I do not!” the Doctor argued.

“You can’t resist being near her. There are two other chairs in this room. And you’re petting her.” Sarah Jane accused.

The Doctor looked at his left hand which was petting her hair and pulled it away. “I ah, didn’t realize I was… Rose’s hair is really soft. She refuses to tell me what she does and I want to know. The Tardis hides her hair products from me!”  
“Mm-hm,” Sarah Jane watched as he slowly slipped his hand back into her hair. He did seem almost unaware of it. She smiled. “Did you tell her that when she kissed you in your mind that it was the equivalent of the two of you…”

“Sarah!” he hissed, scandalized.

“Don’t you Sarah me, she should know.” Sarah Jane growled.

He was silent. His free hand tapping on the arm of the sofa. The corners of his mouth tipped down. Sarah got up and went into the kitchen to start the kettle, letting him stew for a few moments. When she returned with two mugs, he took it, eyes unfocused. “How do I--?” he asked, frowning, “How do I do that?”

“Are you asking me?” Sarah asked as she spooned sugar into his cup. “Just tell her. Rose is bright and intuitive. On some level, she’s probably guessed.”

He nodded. “She knows it’s--intimate in a way. She mentioned it then but Sarah, she was hurt and she threw her whole personality at me, feelings, emotions, everything.”

“And how was that?” Sarah Jane asked, her own curiosity kicking in. “My experiences with telepathic contact haven’t been the best. I’d imagine Rose Tyler is a different kettle of fish altogether than that ring I put on.”

The Doctor beamed. “Bit different Definitely more fun.”

She stared. He withered. “Yes, I KNOW,” he agreed. 

“Also, it’s cheating. You know how she feels about you now.”

“I--maybe. It was a stressful situation. Maybe she was grateful and I mistook it.”

“You’re an idiot.” Sarah Jane told him. 

He hung his head. “Yes, I am.”

The Doctor ran a hand down his face. “I’ve been denying how she feels because she didn’t tell me… I cheated. I did try to warn her. She didn’t listen. She was too busy mingling her whole essence with mine while I was too busy…”

“Enjoying the mingle?”

“Sarah, it’s--it was…” he trailed off. 

“Stop pushing Rose away because you’re embarrassed to admit to her that she basically shagged you rotten in your mind,” she said done with being subtle.

The Doctor turned beet red. His mouth opened and closed several times. Sarah sighed. “Look, Doctor, you’re wasting time with her. She’s here now. She loves you now. Stop being as stuffy and uptight as you always told me your people were. Stop trying to remember the Timelords with rose-colored glasses. They forced us to go to Scaro, remember? Harry and I nearly died doing their dirty work, and you too. And they erased some of your friends’ memories didn’t they?”

“Jamie and Zoe… they just took them from me.” he trailed off and his gaze slipped back to Rose. 

“So, there you go. They can’t take Rose. But you can push her away.”

Sarah Jane was sorry for the infinite sadness she saw swirling in eyes that used to be so merry and blue. She had mercy on him, “Oh, go on, uphold the Universal balance. Sod the rest of the rules. That’s what you always did when they were alive.” 

“Thank you.”

Sarah Jane stood up, brushing off her legs as if pushing the conversation away. “There’s a guest room made up. Clyde stays over sometimes. Take Rose up. Get some sleep. Be here for breakfast.”

“Yessir.”

“I mean it, Doctor. Be here for breakfast. My son is going to want to meet you. You owe me that. 

“Ah, right, Luke is it?” the Doctor asked, perking up.

“Goodnight, Doctor.” Sarah Jane called, climbing the stairs to her own room and closing the door.

Her son was laughing. Sarah Jane moaned, glancing at her alarm. It was well after nine. She got dressed and headed downstairs to more laughter. Rose was giggling as the Doctor poured pancake mix into the skillet. Rashers of bacon were already piled up on the table next to a mountain of scrambled eggs. 

“I lived for three weeks in the jungles of XuXintl where I learned to become a fry cook,” the Doctor was saying as he expertly flipped pancakes. “I can make thirteen styles of egg and forty-seven different biscuits.”

“Yeah right, I’ve seen you burn toast, mate,” Rose said with a laugh. She was slicing up fruit and noticed Sarah Jane first. “Uh, oh, we were supposed to be quiet. Sorry!”

“You woke her,” the Doctor accused Luke who shook his head no and pointed at Rose. All three burst into gales of laughter. Sarah Jane moved into the room and kissed her son’s head and hugged Rose. “Sarah, do you have any bananas? Rose only found strawberries and blueberries, and cherries and raspberries and blimey that’s a lot of berries without bananas.”

“No, I didn’t know you were coming, remember?” Sarah Jane sat down at the table and Luke placed a cup of tea in front of her. 

“The Doctor’s been telling me all about his adventures. I think I’d like to go with them. When I’m out of college. Just once, or twice maybe…”

Sarah Jane grinned. Rose caught her eye and laughed. The Doctor looked between the women and gave Sarah Jane a subtle nod. Sarah Jane knew that their battle was yet to come and a hint of sadness tried to slip into her thoughts. She viciously shoved it away. This morning they were happy.

The Doctor slapped a plate of pancakes down in front of her and started shoveling eggs onto her plate with a wink.

**Author's Note:**

> So the timeline on this had t obe complicated because of when the different shows were on. So Sarah gets to know the future for once. That's why she's a bit blunt in this. :) Anyway, there's one or two more of these left... Definitely one.


End file.
